[BlindMath] Ew: Current strategies regarding accessible mathematics

[David Engebretson Jr.]

I can see how a mathematics professor would have a difficult time providing
hardcopy Braille to students since Braille printers are a specialized type
of hardware.

Providing fully accessible electronic Braille is  a bit of a different
story, in my opinion:
* if the document is authored correctly by the professors then everyone,
blind or not, theoretically should be able to access the material with
equity. 
* Sure some students prefer hardcopy so send that on to your DSS department
* If a student, or blind professor, uses electronic Braille and/or primarily
text to speech then it is, in my opinion, important to author the document
so it works "out of the box" with their screen reader of choice.

 At my university we are trying to determine the most stable and up-to-date
method of providing accessible mathematical output, through thoughtful
mathematical authoring, so that everyone has equal access to the curriculum
we provide.

I enjoy the work DO-IT does. I've good friends who work there. I think that
they would agree that all of our "DSS" offices at every university in the US
are overloaded with work to do and part of their job is to educate
professors as to how to create curriculum that is accessible at the start of
a quarter/semester. No professor wants their students to be waiting for
accessible materials to be provided by a DSS department. The waiting student
will have to catch up when the DSS department does and, as a former student,
I was not a fan of being behind from the start of the quarter/semester. Big
stress.

So, back to the original intent of my inquiry:
* How does a professor best author mathematical equations for equitable
access?
* How does a blind student best access mathematical curriculum with their
assistive technology of choice?

Thanks!
David


-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Susan Jolly via
BlindMath
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2022 10:59 AM
To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
Cc: Susan Jolly <easjolly at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: [BlindMath] Ew: Current strategies regarding accessible mathematics

I don't have anything to add to Dr. Godfrey's comprehensive answer  as far
as the current situation in accessible mathematics. However I do want to
point out some general facts about accessibility in higher education here in
the United States.

First, it is my understanding that it is primarily the responsibility of the
DSS (Disability Services) office at a college or university, not of the
professors, to supply materials in a special format such as braille. This
issue is addressed in this article: 
https://www.washington.edu/doit/postsecondary-setting-who-responsible-provid
ing-braille-translation

Second, educators very likely do  have other professional and legal
obligations to  support accessibility.  The DO-IT program at the University
of Washington is an outstanding example of a program that supplies both
background information and training. Their main page provides links to their
guidance designed for Educators as well as their guidance designed for
several other groups including Students: 
https://www.washington.edu/doit/

Susan Jolly


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